The present invention is directed toward a device for the remote control of electronic musical instrument equipment and more particularly toward a device which is primarily intended to remotely control an electronic tuning circuit.
Numerous electronic tuning devices have been proposed which are intended to aid a musician in the tuning of a stringed instrument such as a guitar. Many of these proposed devices include a microphone or pickup for converting the sound produced by a vibrating string into an electronic signal. This signal is then compared with a signal from a frequency generator which is selected to be equal to the frequency of the string being tuned. These prior devices include numerous different techniques for indicating when the comparator senses that the frequency of the string is equal to the frequency of the frequency generator. Examples of this type of tuning device are shown in U.S. Pat. Nos. 3,766,818; 3,861,266 and 3,901,120. In an effort to improve the accuracy of electronic tuning devices such as those described above and to simplify the operation thereof, Applicant has proposed to connect the tuning device directly in line with the audio cable leading from the guitar pickup to the guitar amplifier. Thus, rather than requiring a separate microphone for the tuner, the audio signal representing the frequency of the vibrating string is taken directly from the audio cable.
This technique, proposed by Applicant, does however create an additional problem. That is, the amplifier is quite often located at a remote location from the guitar and accordingly it would be extremely inconvenient if not impossible for the musician desiring to tune his guitar to control the tuner. In other words, each time the musician wished to tune a different string on his guitar he would have to walk some distance to the tuning device to turn a switch which would control the output frequency of the frequency generator therein. This, of course, cannot possibly be done during a performance although it is quite often necessary to tune or at least check the tuning of a guitar at that time.